Ripple (Undertale)
by megamanfreakinx
Summary: A mysterious box, an unnerving human child, a scientist's vendetta. Walter finds conflict in his new life and must decide how to move forward into the future in the seemingly, sleepy town of Undertale. Picture by maricaripan (deviantart).
1. Chapter 1: The Lick Of The Void

To find god, you need only look to the sky. To be god, you need only kill him.

 **Chapter 1**

 **The Lick Of The Void**

Walter sighed victoriously as he witnessed his new laboratory for the first time. To the simpleton it would appear like a normal, white, spacious and empty room. But to this skeleton, this was the beginning of his new life. A new room meant more than just space to put his ideas- this was where he was going to live from now on. Truly his genius would be put to work here and to no end.

Hotland was not his first choice of a location, but it was close enough to the castle that he could walk there (albeit take a few elevator rides as well). He sighed again with relief as he stopped to sweat from the cool air inside the spacious edifice. He unpacked his first box as he laid it on the only table indoors. Inside were a lamp, some writing utensils, paper, stray clothing, and a small box. The box was labeled- "do not open until year 721."

"Ultimately, my waiting ends in one year." He said with calming resoluteness. Walter was as tall as he was thin. His stature made him appear even as one of the dead trees in Snowdin. It was a surprise he wasn't carried off into the wind when he went outside. His height even rivaled that of his own king. When he wasn't wearing a lab coat, he always wore a long, black suit with a white sweater underneath- which covered most of his neck. Living in Snowdin most of his life asked for such attire, but as he spent –and realized he would spend- more time in Hotland, he wondered if a wardrobe change was in order.

The pristine skull of the skeleton changed demeanor almost instantly. As his head sunk between his shoulders, both of his hands were placed atop the table, resting his weight on it. He looked at one more arbitrary possession he had packed in the box. It was a picture, woodenly framed and dusty. His smile had turned to a complete frown. A sudden wave of guilt and pain surged through Walter's spine. He decided not to take the picture out of its box, instead kept it neatly hidden behind his clothing.

The skeleton scoffed slightly, surreptitiously he hid his emotions from himself. He turned left and clutched the doorknob to his lab. Sporadically, ideas invaded his mind without end. "Surely this will not do." His voice was dark, deep and stern. Absentmindedly he opened the door and looked at the rest of the junk filled boxes strewn about without any order. He looked past all of them and pulled a desk chair from all the mess.

Pushing the box on the table to the floor, Walter sat at the edge of his seat and began sketching a crude drawing of what he wanted his new door to look like. Without thinking he began to form the rolling mounting plate and the electrical contact like some of the elevators in the underground, but he stopped himself. His door didn't need to be electrical, he wanted it to be automatic and motion controlled. When he finished, he designed a door that would slide in and out of the wall. He smiled, this was his first creation in his new lab.

An excess of energy and excitement made him get up again and explore the white edifice. Walking east he noticed that there was a second floor, so he took the stairs upwards and found another white room with a large window and another desk with a piece of paper on it. He grabbed the note and read, "I hope this suffices, and remember, you are always welcome in our home. –Asgore."

Walter made a sound with his mouth as he smiled from cheekbone to cheekbone. He set the note down and stared through the wide window. He beheld his great creation from afar. It had gotten him this far, the core was a marvelous invention. He went over its mechanisms in his mind. The great machine converted magic –or, energy (as he preferred)- into electricity. The core powered the whole of the underground. Could he top it with another invention? He certainly thought so. He was appointed the royal scientist. Whether or not he thought he could or could not do it, he most definitely had to- it was his job now.

This put some stress on the skeleton which fueled him further. The underground was his oyster, and the dirt high above him was his limit. Many ideas floated in his mind, but no particular one surfaced plainly. This would take major concentration to break, and as before, he would need to walk to set his mind at ease. He climbed downstairs again, but before he left he noticed something else had fallen out of the box he threw to the ground. It was a plaque. Proudly he placed it on his desk and he left. On the plaque was engraved, _Doctor W.D. Gaster._

Out of habit, Walter walked with his hands in his pockets. He had gone south but not for too long and only waited. He stood at the edge of a small riverbed. Its waters were deep but they moved only slightly in one direction. He thought, _Years spent in a machine that procures magic._ He frowned at his own work. For all the good he had done, he regretted spending so much time in a menial task. Monsters would find a way to make their own light, they had for many centuries. Had he really made a difference in their lives?

Ostentatiously he cursed as he scuffed the ground with his shoe. _I have earned nothing!_ Why was he not sufficient with the work he had done? It was all for them he thought. He had to have miscalculated something. He wondered whether or not all of his hard work was worth it. And then it hit him like a ten pound boulder. _The surface_. How could he have forgotten why they were in the underground in the first place? The enemy was out there. It was because of them that they were there.

The skeleton was old enough to remember what the humans had done to all monsters. It angered him how stronger they were, and how defenseless he and his companions were during the final battle. He thought of two of his closest allies that made it out of there alive. The three were young back then. One of them was his own king, but he had not visited the other in a long time. Walter wondered if he still remembered. Just then, the skeleton heard a humming coming from up the river. A small, wooden barge appeared from the darkness, just big enough for two or three people to fit. Leading it was a hooded figure which always seemed to speak candidly.

"It will be a fine day in the underground. Won't you agree with me?" The hooded River Person asked.

"Certainly," Walter began as he balanced himself on the barge, "Walking through Waterfall is too dismal, I would prefer something brighter."

"Snowdin it is then." Without moving itself, the River Person led the barge west in a steady pace.

Along the way, the air began to get more and more frigid. Walter recognized the soft scent of the snow, or lack thereof, and buttoned up his suit. His thoughts became agitated with the thought of the war and the humans. He could not help but curse under his breath, more than once. He had been distracted this entire time. He had lost his focus of his true goal. Defeating their enemy was of the utmost importance.

The skeleton peered over the barge into the cold water moving past him. He noticed his reflection and how messy it looked. He had too many people depending on him. How easy would it be to jump? He had entertained the idea before, but it wasn't until that moment when he realized how effortless it would be. For a moment it seemed like a fraction of him actually did jump. He felt this piece of him enter the unforgiving waters. It soothed him from top to bottom to be so free. And the waters devoured him without remorse. He smiled at his own fantasy but then shook, terrified of how far his mind would traverse into the abyss.

"We see the path we take and the path we shouldn't." The River Person started, "Why not take both?" The hooded figure had always spoken to Walter about the most arbitrary things, and it never quite truly made sense. But there was something in its voice that sounded downtrodden. Walter knew it to be a happy individual, and he wondered why it said the things that it said.

"Whatever could you mean by that?" Walter questioned but realized he might not get a straight answer.

The River Person only happily replied, "Here we are Doctor." It did not glance back but only stared forward.

"Thank you kindly." Walter nodded when he stepped of the barge and onto dry snow. He looked back at the sir or madam travel elsewhere. The skeleton could breathe again. He watched the lazy lights of the town in the distance. This was where most of his ideas came from, and he did not anticipate any reprisal there.

 **This is my first Undertale fanfic, what do you think? Should I continue? Ding. Should I stop? Sad ding.**


	2. Chapter 2: Ah, Our Unannounced Guest

**Chapter 2**

 **Ah, Our Unannounced Guest**

The small, white, monster child cried as his sweater was caught up against a tree branch. He wondered why his journey had taken him here of all places. He had always been told the ruins were forbidden. But to see them up close was a treat on its own. He would have never agreed to go alone, and the stranger who insisted he be there led him on, making sure he was farther away and out of sight but still following.

"Are you sure that it's this way?" The small monster's voice trembled without wanting to. "What am I supposed to look for?"

There was a soft whisper, the monster that had been leading the boy did not want to be heard but by only the child. He pointed towards an archway from the darkness. There was only a blotch of light to be lead forward, but the little monster made his way through the crumbled archway and grabbed at it, securing his position on his dark journey.

The small child wanted to cry out and go home, he wanted to admit that he wasn't brave. It was true that the circumstances that arose for him to be there in the first place were odd, but most adventures had to have some sort of dilemma. He realized he was still clutching to a dusty pillar.

The small monster shook his head and made a whimpering sound. He sat down next to the pillar and averted his eyes from the little light there was with his warm sweater.

The soft whisper from behind spoke again, this time harsher than before, the monster always pointed towards the light, he spoke of greatness and fulfillment, an oath that needed to be kept in the family. When the child did nothing the monster in the darkness looked not with anger at the child, but stared only blankly. The tall, robed monster whispered things that terrified the child. The tall monster stepped back into the deepening abyss and could not be seen anymore.

The monster child wiped away a few tears with his arm. He was alone. He didn't know it yet, but what he feared most in life was the thought of being abandoned, with no one to care for him. It was at that moment he knew he had to run back home to his mother. Others might laugh, but what was that to him at that very moment? It did not help that he could barely see, and that his knees were shaking.

There was a scream.

The monster child violently looked towards where he thought the yell had come from. He closed his eyes, perhaps he had imagined it, but he only spooked himself further and opened them again. The boy weighed his options, he was terrified, every molecule in his body pulled him towards the way he came. But someone was in trouble. It would be the right- no, it was his duty to help those in need, as his father always told him. "It sounds like… it came from… over here…" His voice was shrill and rather shaken.

Even as perturbed as he was, the little boy took a few steps forward, closer to the light. His furry hands rubbed against themselves anxiously. He tried to speak but only a peep came out. His heart thumped hard against his small chest, a sensation he had never felt.

"H-he-hello?" He tried to speak but stuttered the question instead. He could feel a rhythmic beating on his temples, which he thought was his brain screaming to him when there came no answer. Closer and closer did he get to the light, he saw that it shined down onto a patch of mud and dirt. He stopped when he could see that something lay on top. "Oh!"

The small child ran towards the patch and noticed a strange looking monster, its head face flat on the mud. He reached for the stranger and picked it up by its arms. He heard it gasp loudly and it looked around, clearly confused at its surroundings. The small child looked up at the light and saw a small hole where a sliver of a root of a tree could be seen. "You've fallen down haven't you?" He tried to converse with the strange looking monster.

But to no avail, it only looked around with its mouth agape and gasping for air.

"Are you okay?" He tried to console the creature.

But it did not respond. Perhaps it did not understand when he spoke. That would be odd though, all monsters spoke the same language. The small child offered his other hand and said, "Here, get up."

The strange creature looked up at the small child and seemed to understand that time. It looked at his hand for a moment. And for a while it appeared as if he pondered something that had no real comprehension. But it finally took his hand and got up. They seemed to be about the same height.

"Where am I?" The strange creature wondered, eyes wide and mouth still open. Its voice sounded feminine.

The small child realized he still held hands with the stranger, blushed, and pulled his hands away lightly. "You mean, you don't know?"

The stranger shook her head. She had straight brown hair which complemented her also brown eyes, but surrounding them was red skin as if it was irritated. Her pants seemed torn and her shirt was ripped, exposing her side.

The small child noticed this and quickly took off his yellow and green striped sweater, "Here, put this on." He handed her his sweater.

The strange creature took it but reluctantly waited to put it on. She looked back at the small child's dark red eyes. They glimmered expectantly and even happily under the light.

She began putting the sweater on while the small child noticed something on the ground close to where the stranger had fallen. It was shiny and sharp.

"Thank you." She said, her gasps becoming normal breathing.

"Yeah!" The small child yelped unexpectedly, "Um, so," he hesitated, "You do know that we're in the Underground… right? I mean, you're a monster aren't you?" He said so uneasily as if he might know the answer.

Her eyes widened at the mention of monsters, "The underground?" She shook her head, "I'm a… human." Wearily she averted her eyes and looked around again.

The small child considered this a moment, "I guess I figured that." He smiled nonetheless, "What's your name?"

The human stranger looked up and lightly gasped. She was in shock for a few seconds, and the monster wondered if she even wanted to respond. "Chara." She said letting out a soft sigh.

"Chara huh?" Surprisingly the monster child smiled more widely than before, "That's a nice name." With the Underground's confidence he said, "My name is Asriel Dreemurr."


End file.
